


Imhotep

by DieLadi



Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:59:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26662576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieLadi/pseuds/DieLadi
Summary: Imhotep. Rodney has read the mission report of SG1 over and over again. He knows what's wrong with it, but some things are better left under the cloak of forgetfulness, when it wouldn't do anyone any good to uncover them.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard, Rodney McKay/Other(s)
Kudos: 20





	1. The false leader

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Imhotep](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17667272) by [DieLadi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieLadi/pseuds/DieLadi). 



> This is a translation to my german story "Imhotep", which you can find here on AO3. Please be aware that english is not my first language.

Again and again Rodney McKay read the mission report of SG1, which was about the events on the planet Cal Mah, the events around the Jaffa rebellion and Imhotep.  
Imhotep, ha!  
Rodney shook his head.

Well, actually, he had read every one of the mission reports of Colonel O'Neill's team, studied them in detail.  
But of course, this one report was of special importance to him personally.

Imhotep.  
Rodney's lips curled up into a thin line, his forehead wrinkled.  
How dare this Goa'uld... !

He had pretended to be a Jaffa, and due to his admittedly charismatic personality he quickly reached the top of those Jaffa who rebelled against the false gods and sought freedom for their people. Freedom, which required a hard and protracted fight, had been clear to all; they had been grateful to find a leader who was not only strong in battle, but also could win the hearts of the Jaffa, deeply respected their way of life, honoured their traditions.  
He had stated that his name was K'tano and that he was the former Prime of Imhotep. A renegade to his false god, and now dedicated to the freedom of the Jaffa.  
Imhotep a false god. Ha! The people should have been suspicious, Rodney thought, because Imhotep had never been worshipped as a god by the people ... ... and Daniel Jackson, who was also present, should have known that. A small untruth, sure, but where there was a small one, it was often only the beginning.  
Well, granted, O'Neill was suspicious of K'tano. Good. The man obviously had an excellent gut feeling.

K'tano had brought the martial art mastaba with him and taught it to anyone who joined the rebellion.  
It was the Jaffa way of fighting that was second to none:  
It was of dancing elegance, of powerful strength, of impressive assertiveness.  
Rodney snorted.  
It was not, as K'tano claimed, invented by him for the warriors of Imhotep.  
No, Mastaba was much older. It was created during the old empire in Egypt, about 2700 B.C., under the Goa'uld servants of the time ...  
Would Daniel Jackson have been aware of this?  
It's unlikely.

Again, Rodney snorted.  
K'tano...  
He let the name roll on his tongue, kept running it over and over in his mind.  
K'tano.  
Katano in ancient Egyptian.  
How dare he!!!

He had fooled the Jaffa.  
Cheated them. Sent their best men on suicide missions to weaken them, appealing to the honour of those sent... it was exactly the way to play the Jaffa like chess pieces.

Until Teal'c figured it out.  
Teal'c, whom K'tano had sent to kill the System Lord Yu. Lord Yu, who had never been worshipped as a god either, but who was considered the founder of the first Chinese imperial dynasty and thus an almost mystical being.  
Lord Yu, however, had known about the attack on him. Treason had been involved.  
But he had not killed Teal'c. He had given him a mission of his own. To kill K'tano.

K'tano who in truth is none other than:  
The Goa'uld Imhotep himself.  
Well, it was the way it always was: you just couldn't trust a Goa'uld.

That is how Teal'c had learned that the forces of the Jaffa rebellion had been betrayed by the man who had pretended to lead them. That he himself had also been taken in by the traitor.  
K'tano had planned to hand the entire army over to the Goa'uld and destroy it. Motherships were already en route to the planet Cal Mah.

Teal'c had thrown the man to the ground and with a deft flick of his wrist he had exposed his belly and indeed.  
He was not Jaffa.  
When he saw himself uncovered, his eyes began to glow.  
He was a Goa'uld.

He almost killed Teal'c, but his own arrogance brought him down; Teal'c could pierce him with a broken wooden shaft of a training weapon, but not before the other had whispered mockingly into his ear:  
"I am Imhotep! I've been fooling you!"

Again Rodney snorted. That arrogant ... but he had always been. Arrogant and so sure of himself.  
Even back then, when...  
Rodney closed the document containing the mission report  
No. Although there were things he knew better. but he wouldn't go in there to fix it.  
There were some things under the cloak of silence that were better left there.

He stretched out a little when he got up and headed back to his quarters.  
His luggage was ready there, he would only finally begin to settle in.  
The first weeks here on Atlantis had been hectic.  
Chaotic, in fact.  
But now, now a little bit of daily life would come along and he would see how it all turned out.  
He'd just get into the swing of things.

_____________________________________________________

Dear Readers,

I don't do this often, but this story needs some commentary.

1\. Imhotep is a historically authenticated figure. However, after his death in later centuries he was worshipped as a god.

2\. the name Mastaba is an invention of the creators of Stargate, but the martial art behind it actually exists. It is Capoeira, and it does not originate from ancient Egypt but from the time of slavery and is a Brazilian martial art.

3\. the way of speaking Katano for the name K'tano originated in my brain and is not based on any scientific basis.

Your DieLadi


	2. The great builder

Imhotep had been the great master builder of Pharaoh Djoser in Egypt during the time of the Old Kingdom, and had supervised the construction of his tomb, the step pyramid near Abydos.  
Abydos on earth; the planet on which Daniel Jackson later lived, had been named by the people after exactly this place.  
Well, the names themselves are something like that; the Pharaoh was not really called Djoser; and the time then was not called the Old Empire; Abydos was not called Abydos; these names were all created in later times, by people who were concerned with it as their past, their history, and who were no longer powerful in ancient Egyptian.  
However, since the Ancient Egyptian language is hardly manageable for the tongues of today's people, we will leave it at the mentioned terms.

Imhotep was a man whose versatile talents caught the attention of the dignitaries of the Pharaoh and thus of the god-king himself early on.  
It was said that he came from royal blood from a collateral line and was directly related to the god-king.  
This was interesting, because it did not apply in any way.  
He was not related to the pharaoh, but rather to the gods themselves, to Ra, to Horus, to Anubis - because he was, like the alleged gods themselves, a Goa'uld.  
But unlike his brothers, he had no interest in enslaving, oppressing, killing, or even deporting humans to other planets.  
He wanted to help them, but he knew that this would bring him the wrath of the System Lords among the Goa'uld; and since he was not one of the influential, powerful ones, he was content to help here and there and otherwise not to interfere in the affairs of the so-called "gods". And they left him alone as long as he left them alone.

Instead, he enjoyed life as it presented itself to him.  
As the master builder of the Pharaoh he was able to create the most wonderful buildings.  
He had played a major role in the design of the palace, had written construction drawings on papyrus and given instructions, had directed the workers, the artists, the construction managers.  
He was the head of the shipyard, and helped to renew the Nile ships of the god-king and to improve their characteristics  
He observed the constellations of the stars and calculated the arrival, the course, the decay of the Nile flood, so that people knew when to sow, when to harvest.  
He helped to equip and commission expeditions to the unknown southern countries.

He created the Egyptian calendar; although it had existed before, it had never been brought to papyrus in such a concentrated form as by Imhotep.  
He was instrumental in the further development of the hieroglyphic script. Someone had to finally summarize and standardize all the characters, which differed greatly in their execution by the people and in different parts of the empire, even between rich and poor! There you go. From today's point of view, one would probably say that he had written something like the ancient Egyptian Duden.

He also contributed to the mummification techniques. With Ra and Osiris (and what they are all called), of course you could stumble around the world like a blindfolded child with these things; but you could also approach it scientifically and make sense, damn it.  
And so he laid the foundation for something that would be done in this form for a few more centuries, even millennia.

And then came the biggest challenge of his life:  
He was to build the tomb for the Pharaoh. The dwelling place for eternity.

The people of those days believed that the Goa'ulds were gods.  
And the pharaohs had a direct line to the gods  
Ha, ridiculous!  
But that did not matter to him in this context. He accepted the challenge and enjoyed every single moment.

There was so much to do, so much to think about.  
A suitable underground had to be found. This required precise rock testing and measurements.  
The right building material had to be provided. Sand and limestone from the best quarries in the country had to be procured. Marble for the interior decoration. Faience had to be produced. Statues created by the best artists of Lower and Upper Egypt.

The stars had to be consulted at the right times.  
The exact construction had to be planned. The distribution of the weight. Tons and tons of rock had to be stable on the ground.  
The angles of inclination had to be calculated, the size of the steps.  
The exact location of the burial chambers.

Craftsmen, artists, workers. A huge number of people had to be commanded. The logistics of getting it all done was a work of art in itself.  
It all filled him up, claimed him with every fiber of his being.

His body, his mind, his knowledge and skills were in full concentration and tension every waking second.  
He loved it.

And when the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser was completed one day and rose in its impressive majesty above the desert sands near Abydos, he had created a monument that would last for millennia and take people's breath away with its magnificence.  
A monument to Pharaoh Djoser.

But also a monument for himself.

Imhotep, the master builder of the Pharaoh, the first known universal genius in the history of mankind.

______________________

Remarks:

1\. I have exaggerated the capabilities of the Imhotep.  
It is proven that he was the master builder of the Pharaoh, and as such he must have possessed extensive knowledge and skills.

2\. furthermore, he possessed a lot of other titles, which are preserved carved in stone. To what extent he was able to carry out the underlying activities  
but actually executed or from at least some of them are pure honorary titles, can only be assumed today.

3\. certain denominations let likewise assume that he was a blood relative of the Pharao.

4\. however, the research agrees to a large extent that he must have been an ingenious head for that time.

5\. I am from Germany, so I sometimes use Germany-specific terms. Like for example "Duden". The Duden is THE spelling dictionary of the German language that simply everyone in this country knows.


	3. the ambitious beloved

Meaningly, Imhotep stood at the balustrade of his palatial residence near the necropolis of Abydos and looked out into the shimmering desert sand.  
Katano, his body servant, knelt beside him ... his lover.  
It was the day when the work on the second major building of his life, the Pyramid of Sechemchet, was finished.  
A great day in his life,  
And yet ...

"Katano," he said, "my dear, we did it. Our task is done."  
Katano remained silent with his head bowed.  
Imhotep lovingly let his hand glide through the hair of the crouching man.  
"You, my servant, my beloved, have supported me so much. I could not have done it without you."  
The servant raised his head.  
"We have grown old about this... well, you've grown old..."  
And that was true. Katano was gray and stooped, the burden of the years was on his face.  
"It will...", said Imhotep and swallowed regretfully, "there will be a farewell, it cannot be avoided..."  
The servant cleared his throat.  
"It doesn't have to be ...", he said softly, so that Imhotep could just hear it.

The master builder knew what his lover was alluding to.  
He was a Goa'uld, Katano was a human. But he had already said several times that he was ready to be host to a Goa'uld. Yes, his body was old, decrepit; but Imhotep had a sarcophagus, and it would be a bit of a drag ...  
"You know it's not that easy," said the builder. "You know what it does to most people, and I won't let it happen."  
"I don't understand it," pleaded Katano. "You are not like your brothers... you are not evil..."  
"Maybe so," said Imhotep. "But I am an exception, at least until now, and I have not been able to find out why, despite all my knowledge. And who knows what the sarcophagus will do to me in the future... should I ever become like them, should I ever find any sign of it, I will kill myself."

They remained silent.  
"I want to take that chance! Please," Katano begged again.  
"I want to be like you! I want to live and I don't want to kneel anymore."  
Imhotep looked at his beloved in astonishment.  
"You know", he said, "that here, in our four walls, when we are alone, you have not had to kneel before me for a long time."  
"That is not what I mean. I like doing it here, it stimulates my lust and yours as well, to do it for you ..."  
Imhotep smiled and nodded. Indeed, that' ...  
"No, I mean out there. Where I am your servant. Just your body servant whom you could kill or sell. Not much more than a slave."  
Katano's eyes flashed.  
"I no longer want to serve. I want to rule! I want others to bow down before me and cower in the dust, fearing my commands!"

Imhotep shivered. It was not like that after all.  
"This is the wrong way," he said. "Power for power's sake only hurts, it doesn't make you rich, only evil."  
Katano puffed. Then he stood up. He stood with his legs apart, his hands on his hips.  
"So you're going to let me die, and you're going to go on?"  
Imhotep sighed.  
"I will mourn for you, my love. I have allowed my body to age, I will find a new host, someone who is sick or injured and who will be given a new chance to carry me, the Goa'uld, someone who would die otherwise ..."  
"And if no one else can be found? Then you simply overpower a defenseless victim?"  
"No!" Imhotep's answer was sharp and loud.  
"Well," said Katano, "I would do that." And his look was arrogant, as he had often been when he thought Imhotep would not notice.

The great master builder had reconsidered Katano's request, although he actually thought he had already decided. Had wavered.  
But now, after this answer, his decision was clear.  
"Katano," he said, "my beloved, it is as it is. Even though you and I know that it is not the gods who control the fate of men, simply because there are no gods, in the sense that the people believe in them - it is your fate to die after a long life. It is my fate to leave you behind. Or to die as well. Who knows."  
He sighed.

"So you will not give me the chance to use the sarcophagus? Get a Goa'uld? You would deny me that?"  
"Yes," said Imhotep and bowed his head.

For a moment there was silence.  
Then Katano hissed viciously:  
"That's the way I take it!"  
And then Imhotep felt a blow on his temple and his senses vanished.

When he came to consciousness, he lay on his bed. He was startled, but a firm grip held him back.  
He looked into Katano's face.

Katano, yes, but no longer old and bent...  
"What have you done!" he cried disappointedly.  
"I used your sarcophagus," said the servant. Or better the former servant, because he didn't look like he would ever serve anyone again.  
"And I have a Goa'uld within me. A nameless one, one who would never have achieved greatness without me. But fear not... you are unharmed, and your host has but a bump that you can heal."

Imhotep was horrified. Disappointed. Angry.  
But actually he was just tired.  
Tired of these games and intrigues.  
Tired of the love that hurt and struck him so deeply.

"Go ahead as you like," Katano said. "I will not stand in your way. But you will not stand in my way either. I will rule, with or without your help. I will make war and I will win and I will subjugate my enemies as you should have done."

"Now I cannot change it anymore," Imhotep said quietly.  
"But we will not be side by side. Go your way without me. I will be alone, but it does not matter to me. I have loved you and lost you, lost in a way that is so much worse than death."

Katano's face distorted into an angry mask.  
"So go, coward!" he cried. "I have taken what I wanted and I will take something else from you! I will take your name! I am Imhotep now! Me! And you will never use that name again or I'll kill you!"

"What value does the name have for me now," whispered the master builder.  
"I have lost everything... so keep it."

And he turned and left.


	4. Chapter 4

Meaningly, Imhotep stood on the balcony of his premises and looked down on the shimmering blue waves of the ocean.  
That day in the palace when he lost Katano, the last man he had ever loved, had been so long ago.

How much had happened since then.  
He had kept his word and discarded the name Imhotep. What more could it do to him; it was nothing more that made the name dear and worthy to him, on the contrary, it was connected with pain and sorrow.

Katano had not found the greatness and power he had sought. Yes, he had thrown himself into battles, defeated enemies and subjugated both humans and Jaffa. Had spun intrigues and done terrible things.  
But the other Goa'uld who had been in power for a long time, the System Lords, had kept him small, had not allowed a new power to grow up.  
By Ra, he had not been the first to try and fail.  
Still, he had survived centuries, millennia, and had felt power, albeit on a small scale.  
Did it make him happy? Did it satisfy him?  
Well, at least he had not had to kneel any more.

Imhotep sighed.  
His own life had turned out completely different than he had originally planned.  
He had made a conscious decision never to love again, because love had hurt him so much.

He had gone into hiding. Had decided to help people and to help them in their development, and so he had lived among them for thousands of years as a wise scholar.  
Mostly he had managed to remain unrecognized, under the radar, so to speak.  
But sometimes, now and then, his wisdom was so decisive that his name became known.  
This was the name he carried at the time, because he changed his name after each human life span.  
He rarely used the sarcophagus because he knew that it would change his personality, and not for the better.  
Therefore, when a host aged and the natural life span was coming to an end, he went in search of a new host. A young person who would not live long due to illness or injury and for whom a Goa'uld would be the only chance to escape death.

His name was Archimedes.  
At that time he was one of the most important mathematicians, he brought people enormous progress in practical physics and in the calculation of surfaces and bodies, among other things.

His name was Ibn Sina, and his findings in medicine were groundbreaking. He taught and healed. He gave health and life and passed on his knowledge to those who, like him, wanted to do good for mankind. He loved this time, the healing, the students, the recovering and also the dying, to whom he gave comfort.

His name was Hildegard von Bingen. In the shape of this abbess he taught people that nature was the greatest healer. Plants and minerals, all in abundance; casts and baths, massages and nutrition.  
The basics of what Hildegard knew would still exist in medicine and pharmacology centuries later.

His name was Gallilei. He did research in mathematics and engineering.  
In astronomy and cosmology. Modern natural science was based on his methods, which, in addition to experiments, used analyses and measurements to evaluate results, thus enabling objective research.

His name was Alexander Fleming, who, after some confusion, discovered penicillin and thus opened the door to the world of antibiotics for mankind and saved countless people from painful death from infectious diseases.

And among all these lives, whose names were in the history books and will remain forever in the minds of men, he lived the countless lives of unknown healers, scholars, builders, scribes, whose names are forgotten forever, but who had done no less good for mankind.

Until one day he arrived here and now.  
At this place.  
And with these people.

He was happy here. He could do research. Could help. Could be himself.  
He had always been lonely over the millennia, and that had made him cranky, he knew that. Knew that he was not easy to bear.  
But the people here liked him.  
Especially the one ...

He, the universal genius, who shone in every field he took on, except the field of friendship and love, had found people here who liked him as he was.  
And this one person had come so close to him that the millennia-old resolution to never want to love again was shaken ...

Should he give in to this?  
Well, now that Katano was dead, defeated by a Jaffa named Teal'c...

Yes. He would open his heart again.  
And so Imhotep, the true Imhotep, once the master builder of a pharaoh, the first known universal genius in history, turned around and walked into the city where he now lived, to the people with whom he now lived.  
To the people of Atlantis, among whom he again bore a different name.

Who knew him as Dr. Rodney McKay.  
Step to them to seek out the one whose first name spoke of a grace of God, of being a gift, and yes, he was! And whose house name identified him as the Shepherd, the Guardian, and yes, that too was him.  
And he would probably also be a guardian for Rodney's, Imhoteps, Heart.

Well, Imhotep decided to at least dare again after thousands of years.


End file.
